Abstract

This paper adopts the lens of a global “cultural terrain of struggle” in unfolding analytical comparisons of the Confucius Institute with its western counterparts in three layers of their purposes, operating models and provisions. It provides answers to the question of why the Confucius Institute with a similar goal is perceived differently and what gives it unique Chinese features. The hidden barriers are revealed by employing theoretical frameworks of Orientalism, culture hegemony and knowledge-power nexus: while the difference in operating models is surely a major source for setting the Confucius Institute apart from its western counterparts, it is also an oversimplification that only focuses on the visible difference in locations but does not challenge the Orientalist grounds where hidden difference in power positions in this uneven terrain lie at the very core. A few cases of the Confucius Institute closures were also discussed to reveal that the Chinese government presence with both sponsorship and censorship is another critical difference and a major source attracting scepticisms.